Amusement device



J. E. STURGES AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-4, 1920.

1,438,671, 7 I Patented Dec.12,1922

llllllIlllllllllllmmmmm'lmlwlllllI W WY 1m" r 1 I I I I l I 1 1 1 I 1 z I! |8 fiat/9171101 5 F191 JOHN EDWIN sTusasss alvrney Patented Dec. 12,

ADIUSEWZENT DEVICE.

Application filed August 4, 1920.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jenn liiownv flroncns, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California, have made a new and useful invention, to wit: improvements in Amusement Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates particularly to an amusement device or game of skill having the object of edifying and amusing children and persons of every age by providing a small sized, facsimile representative of fields of play or courses used in outdoor games, such as baseball, golf or croquet with which the great majority of people are very familiar, or field for playing of other games requiring skillful piloting of a movable object over a course.

An object of the invention is to provide a surface having a predescribed and predetermined course laid out thereon with a freely movable object adapted to be retained on the course and by varying the normal, horizontal plane of the surface or otherwise affecting the movement of the object (such as by hitting it) so as to advance the object about the course avoiding or making disqualifying stations placed at predetermined positions adjacent or upon the said course. Other ob jects and advantages will appear as this de scription progresses.

In this specification and the annexed drawings, the invention is illustrated in the form considered to be the best, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such form, because it may be embodied in other forms, and it is also to be understood that in and by the claims following the description it is desired to cover the invention in whatsoever form it may be embodied.

In the accompanying one-sheet of drawings,

Figure 1 represents a plan view of an amusement device constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 represents a vertical cross section through the same on the line 22 on Figure 1.

Figure 3 represents an amusement device constructed in a somewhat slightly modified form.

Figure 4 is a plan view of either Figure 1 or 3 having a mirror attachment demount- Serial No. 401,236.

ably applied thereto for providing a further modification of the invention.

Figure 5 represents a vertical side elevation through Figure 9: on the line 5-5.

In detail the construction illustrated in the drawings includes an enclosure 1 that may be either rectangular, oval or any other desired contour and formed of cardboard, metal or any other light and durable composition capable of withstanding handling and rough usage. In its present embodiment, the enclosure consists of a rectangular box comprised of the side walls 2 and 3, end walls 4 and 5 and bottom 6. li ithin the side walls of the enclosure, I have provided a surface 7 consisting of the same material as that from which the box is formed and having a suitable course or field of play laid out thereon. The course is formed in the surface 7 by routing out a. suitable continuous or broken depression 8 into the particular design or field of play desired. Inthis particular instance the surface 7 has a baseball diamond formed therein although it would be clearly within the purview of this invention to provide a. golf course or a'course representing any one of a number of particular gan'ies and i do not wish to limit myself to the particular type of game illustrated. Disqualifying or safety stations are provided in and through the surface 7 as at 9 around the course at predetermined distances and at suitable other points and may either consist of holes through the surface 7 or of hemispherical depressions 10, as illus trated in Figure 3.

The surface 7, as illustrated in Figure 1, is spaced away from and positioned parallel with the bottom 6 of the container 1, thus providing a subway or receiving space between the two surfaces into which an object, being advanced around the course, will pass by going through a disqualifying station or hole 9.

' For the purpose of illustrating the manner of playing the game, I will assume that the batter ll. represented by a freely movable spherical ball is in the batters box represented by the depression In this position the complete container is picked up by the person desiring to play the game and the surface 7 tipped from the normally horizontal plane to advance the object 11 out of the players box into the path 13 betwee the home plate 14 and first base 15, the object proceeding in the direction of the arrules of the game,'will constitute that particular player out. The ball in the receiving space then represents the second batter up and is advanced therefrom up the inclined surface 18 and thence into position in the batters box 12 from where it is ad vanced around the course. The disqualifying stations 9, as placed at the particular designated points, on the diamond represent plays of the game where a player is either counted out for stealing a base or through quickness of play is caught off base by an opposing player. Thus if the playerobject gets between first and second bases and the person operating the game teeters the angle of the surface 7 too much the player will either be rolled back to first base and counted out for being caught off the base or willbe disqualified at second base for stealing. If the player 11 is successful in advancing around the complete circuit without being disqualified and successfully enters the box 19, a score of one run is counted. 7

The particular construction illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is advantageous in that when a player makes an out, the object drops through a disqualifying station and thus prevents any controversy arising between the persons playing the game as to the validity of the disqualification, whereas in Figure 3 the player-object may be dis qualified by entering a cup-shaped depression but by quickly tipping the plane-of the surface could be put back in the field of play, providing the opponent player present were'not quick enough to observe the false move; A suitable glass 20 is placed over the field of play'and contained in the side and end walls thus retaining the rolling object within the enclosure.

Totest the skill of those that might become particularly expert at playing the game in its ordinary form, a further combination is providedin a mirror 21 erected in a housing 22 at one end of the field of play adjacent the wall 4. The mirror is supported by an angular member 23 fixed to the surface 7 at end 5 thereof as at 2% and has its oppositeend' 25 engaging the outer end of the mirror. This protecting shield 23 is of substantially the same width as the surface 7 and is provided with an angular opening 26 through which a person playing the game may view in the mirror the field of play as reflected therein. A person gazing in the mirror and playing the game will tip the surface 7 in the same manner, as without the mirror, but confusion will result on account of the field of play being reversed by the reflection in the mirror.

The particular game-illustrated is so constructed and devised as to contain substantially the same points of play and disqualifications occurrent in the usual outdoor game play represented by this facsimile.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. An amusement device comprising an enclosure having a game course laid out thereon and an'object to be advanced therearound; plurality of stations for receiving the object in its progress around the course and amirror positioned across the end of the enclosure whereby the game course may be viewed through said mirror.

2. An amusement device comprising a surface having a continuous depression therein, forming a course; a spherical object adapted to be advanced around said course by tipping the said surface from the horizontal plane and a plurality of disqualifying stations in and through said surface adjacent said course at predetermined intervals for removing the free object from the course; and a receiver positioned to receive the object after the same has passed through a disqualifying station and having means for returning the same to the course; and a mirror positioned across the end of the surface whereby the game may be played by viewing the same through the mirror.

3; An amusement device comprising a surface having a depression therein forming a continuous game course, an object freely movable in said course; a receiving station in and through said. surface adjacent said course at predetermined intervals, the game consisting in tipping the surface from the horizontal plane to advance the sphere around the continuous course repeatedly without passing into any of the receiving stations and a receiver positioned to receive the object after the same has passed through a receiving station having an incline means for returning the object to the continuous course.

In testimonywhereof, l have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco, California, this 30th day of June, 1920.

JOHN EDWIN STUBGES.

In presence of LINCOLN V. JOHNSON. 

